Forums

I am planning on doing an MBA in 2011, however my academic record until recently has been average. In the last few years I have come to regret it.

I see an additional course as a great way of making up for my academic record and showing how I have changed

I am looking for a good correspondence course in Stats, Micro-economics or Accountancy. I’ve had a look at the Open University, please can you recommend some other options. I’ve in London and could take evening or weekend courses.

Ideally the course would have an exam at the end

TomW's picture
Training Badge

A single course will not seriously affect your grade point average and really does not mean you've changed (assuming that you do well in it, maybe it was an easy course, maybe you're good at sprinting through short efforts, etc).

MBA admissions do not focus solely on your academic record. They also look at your professional experience, your GMAT scores, and your entrance essays.

I would recommend focusing on those instead. One of the essays may even mention lessons you've learned about discipline in academics.

stephenbooth_uk's picture

Best place to start would probably be your local library. They should have details of local FE colleges (that's colleges in the UK sense), many of which have just published their January-March course brochures. Quite often FE colleges will offer a choice of distance or classroom based learning, where practical. The library will almost certainly also be able to help you to find other learning providers who might be able to help you.

Another possible thing to try, if your workplace is unionised, would be to talk to a union rep and ask if they have any Union Learning Reps or Life Long Learning Reps. A number of years ago the government set up something called the Union Learning Fund to fund delivery and promotion of training through the trade union movement. They also legitimised a role, Life Long Learning Rep, that had been in existence for some time in the movement, this role is now called the Union Learning Rep or ULR. The role of the ULR is to research and collate information on courses available then provide advice to people seeking learning/training. Whilst some unions restrict their ULRs to only advising their own members others are fine with giving advice to non-members. It's worth asking.

Stephen

jhack's picture
Gareth's picture

[quote="stephenbooth_uk"]Best place to start would probably be your local library. They should have details of local FE colleges (that's colleges in the UK sense), many of which have just published their January-March course brochures. [/quote]

Just to add to this - If based in the UK then a local university may offer a range of courses that can suit your full or part time commitment.

bflynn's picture

With average scores, you're not going to Harvard, but I suspect you already knew that. I have seen someone with a 2.0 undergraduate GPA get into a relatively good b-school, so I assure you it can be done. Hit the GMAT preparation hard and look beyond the questions in the essays.

Most importantly, focus on your work; you should be a manager prior to going to business school.

Brian

jhack's picture

Letters of recommendation can also make a big difference. If an executive you know is an alum of the school you'd like to attend, that's a good recommendation.

John